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Four Red Flags to Tell You Not to Have Your Lips Plumped

September 1, 2019

By: Dr. Van Dyke

Recently heard: “My best friend got her lips done a few months ago and they looked great. She sent me to this lady’s house. The lady said she was a nurse and would inject my lips with some stuff that you can’t get in the US….and it only would cost $80 !!”

“Have I got a deal for you!” You get what you pay for and sometimes you get far more, and not it a good way. Everybody loves a screaming deal. Lip plumping in America is incredibly popular. Not only in the trendy coastal cities but deep in the Midwest as well. Nothing wrong with that! I have helped (in my own practice and as a National Trainer for Allergan, the leading filler company) to plump countless thousands of lips. The goal: natural youthful full lips or voluptuous glamorous pouty lips, depending on the persons desires. And frankly this costs money. About $500 in fact. So perhaps you should run, don’t walk away when the price is $80. Something is not right and the consequences can be devastating.

“My office is in my house, so much more convenient.” A private residence is not an appropriate place to practice medicine. Injections of fillers require a clean controlled environment. Products must be kept under specific conditions. In the event of a reaction then the supplies necessary need to be available.

“Trust me, I really am a nurse!” Buyer beware? Check credentials! Many people assume that if a person is advertising that they inject fillers that they must be a nurse. Never assume. Nurses are registered with the state, and that is easy to check. RN’s and Physician Assistants must have a physician (MD or DO) as a supervisor. Find out who that is and if they are actively involved with the practice/medspa. Nurse Practitioners do not need supervision and they are also registered with the state, again just do a little checking.

“I love this filler, even though it is illegal in the US, I can get it! Love or hate the FDA, they do serve to help keep us a bit safer. Europe has dozens of fillers, the rest of the world has multiples of that number available. The freedom of choice is one things but the propagation of unsafe product with devastating and sometimes irreversible side effects comes with it. We know that when we have an FDA filler, it has passed some pretty rigorous safety and efficacy studies. Of course those are not a 100% guarantee that something can’t go wrong but…….imagine the risk if these studies were not done at all! If an “injector” recommends an illegal filler get out of there and report it to the medical board. Importing and using non FDA fillers is illegal, unethical and unsafe. The injector that sells them is not the one you want to trust your lips to.

The rest of the story: She under went treatment. Her lips were extremely swollen and painful. She went to the ER 3 times and was treated with steroids and antibiotics as well as a medication to try to dissolve the product. She ended up in the hospital for IV antibiotics. She is doing better I hear but the medical bills are enormous.